p nbc's fran krnbc's fran report. >> reporter: thousands of travelers can't get on a plane but they're all in the same boat. >> we're in limbo right now. we are. >> reporter: it's the worst time for air travel since the september 11th attacks. for the fourth day a massive ash cloud halted travel across much of europe and the other side of the atlantic is feeling the trickle effect. many europeans are in washington, d.c. for the world's largest geography convention. >> everybody's got an extra nine, 12 days in washington.

>> reporter: they spent the past few days talking about places. they just can't get anywhere. >> for now i'm going to sleep on a friend's couch and hope that the friendship lasts. >> reporter: the sprint is on to try to get to the boston marathon. hundreds of runners in europe are trying to make it to the famed race. for stuck passengers seaworld is offering free admission to three of its parks. >> obviously it gives us something to do. >> reporter: the only flying for now are test flights that have collected samples from the air space. experts say they don't expect a wind shift for the next three or four days. >> depressing, tiring, nerve-racking. tired of being in here. >> reporter: so as planes stay grounded, travel plans remain up in the air. frances kuo, nbc news. well, the vol ka know even disresulted president obama's travel plans this weekend. despite the fact that he and other world leaders had to cancel plans to attend the state funeral of poland's president yesterday, a somber mourning went on without them.

tens of thousands lined up to attend the funeral of kaczynski and his wife maria perished in a plane crash nine days ago along with other top officials. the caskets were driven through the streets as crowds chanted thank you to their fallen leader. the memorial was capped by burial in a crypt at the castle that's normally reserved for officials and national heroes. yesterday at the vatican's embassy, pope benedict met and prayed with a group of eight men who say they were sex abuse victims. according to a statement from the vatican, pope benedict expressed his, quote, shame and sore rowe at the pain the men and their families have suffered. it was the first time that the pope has met with abuse victims since a worldwide sex abuse scandal engulfed the vatican earlier this year. nbc news has learned that later this morning toyota is expected to sign paperwork for agreeing to the largest government penalty ever against

an ought maker relating to its sticking gas pedal recall. according to a department of transportation official, by paying the record $16.4 million fine, the maximum allowed by law, toyota is accepting responsibility for hiding the safety defect. the japanese automaker is expect ed to pay the penalty before to avoid going to court. while toyota is not expected to admit to any specific wrongdoing. paying the fine will not release toyota from civil or criminal actions. and now here's a look at some other stories making news today early today in america. new york police are asking for the public's help in identifying four young women who stole nearly 4,000 dollar in lingerie. two of the women distracted a store clerk while the others stuffed merchandise into their shopping bags. employees describe the suspects as young, possibly high school or college students. some 50 new jersey residents are out of house and home this morning after a massive fire ripped through two apartment

buildings. firefighters say they had trouble getting the blaze under control, but amazingly there were no injuries. the cause is still under investigation. in the florida keys costume competitors kicked up their three-inch heels this weekend at the annual drag race. dashing divas we'lled their way down the main drag in the key west to celebrate independence day. racers were judged on speed and ability to stay on their feet. that's hard to do with heels. and if you're a running in the boston marathon today, keep your eyes peeled for lisa, the last american man or woman to win the race. she's doing an anniversary run this year, 25 years after taking first place by eight minutes. while the 48-year-old mother who now spends her time coaching army athletes doesn't expect to win, she hopes her presence will provide a little inspir rags to her fellow countrymen and women.

and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill vrks you ever run a marathon? >> no. i think like i've done a 10 k and that's it. >> that's pretty good. that's more than i've done. >> let's talk a little bit about what's folk to happen up there in boston for patriot's day. we had miserable weather in northern new england and encentral new england all day long. rain and cold. today is going to be a little bit better. temperature up in the 50s. it will be dry. the runners don't actually like it too hot. we also have a little bit of wet weather down in arkansas. little rock has light rain. fort smith is clear now. from pine bluff to memphis it will be cool and cloudy for you. also in florida we're seeing showery weather activity from orlando southwards down into the keys. this is the forecast in the next 48 hours. you notice from the mountainous areas to the east it doesn't look too bad. most areas remain dry. you look at your month forecast.

beautiful. minneapolis looks good. the great lakes look cool. d.c., philly, baltimore to new york looks good. the wet weather on and off from orlando to tampa down to miami. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. not a bad day at all in the mid-atlantic, from raleigh to charlotte we should be sunny and beautiful. temperature near 70 degrees. new orleans not bad. we'll take it in columbus, ohio. 61 and sunny. chance of showers there in orlando. we'll take a look at that tuesday forecast coming up, lynn. all right. thank you. also coming up we're going to tell you the two biggest issues facing investors on wall street. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus a funny thing happened to the favorite on the way to this weekend's box office title. kevin garnett is suspended, and one of the strangest overtime goals you'll ever see. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. after an outcry over spirit airlines decision to charge up to $45 for a carry-on bag, five airlines are promising not to follow spirit's lead. charles schumer has received pledges. defense secretary robert gates is disputing the new york times characterization of a memo he sent over america's long-term strategy for dealing with the growth of iran's nuclear program. in the story, a source calls the memo a, quote, wake-up call to the white house. gates insists that's not the case, saying he simply laid out steps to be taken as various agencies work together in making policy on iran in the months ahead. on sunday's "meet the press" on nbc, timothy geithner said the economy is growing faster than the obama administration

expected and is on the way to sustained job creation. geithner also expressed confidence congress would approve a financial reform package that will protect taxpayers from having to pay for future bailouts. and he may have his problems here at home, but a bbc poll suggests that president obama is a hit abroad. in 2007 the poll of 28 nations found only 28% felt america's influence in a world that was positive. this year for the first time since the poll began, more viewed its influence positively than negatively. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,018. after falling 125 points. the s&p fell 19, the nasdaq lost 34 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, tokyo, the nikkei, dropped 193 pointing while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 460 points.

two things will be on the minds of traders heading into the week on wall street. goldman sachs and earnings. friday's fraud charges against goldman sachs rocks the street with the dow sitting on a fresh 18-month high, just the announcement of the charges was enough to snap a six-day winning streak and send the dow tumbling 125 points. today with the scope of those charges now rocking asian markets, investors will be greeted by the news that england and germany will be investigating the wall street giant as well. with england's prime minister gordon brown accusing the bank of, quote, moral bankruptcy. on the heels of that "the wall street journal" is reporting federal authorities are moving fast in their criminal investigation of former mortgage giant countrywide financial and its role in the housing and financial meltdowns of 2007 and 2008. the other issue dominating trading this week will be quarterly earnings. 11 dow components and 123 s&p

500 companies will release numbers, but experts worry even the best results may not be good enough to push stocks higher in what many are coming to see as an overheated market. take google. the company posted 23% jump in revenue thursday night, but since that fell short is of wall street's highest expectations the stock actually plummeted more than 7% on friday. watch best buy today. the ceo of the world's biggest electronic retailer told the "financial times" this weekend the company plans to open up to a thousand new cell phone shops across the country. and finally, some oklahoma high school students attending a prom friday night. watch in amazement as a repo man drove off with the limo they rented for the night. the limo owner blames it all a mix-up with his bank and even offered the kids a partial refund or a free future rental. well, a tough guy scores a clincher in the stanley cup playoffs and a suspension for being a tough guy in the nba playoffs.

plus, the oklahoma city thunder try to make some noise taking on the reigning champs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> it's a tranquil start to our monday forecast. your regional weather is coming up. you're watching "early today." 4

good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports the defending champion los angeles lakers used an unusual weapon yesterday in their nba playoff opener. defense. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the l.a. lakers began their title defense against the young and upstart oklahoma city thunder. we'll get right to it. there were many questions surrounding the champs. the biggest play by andrew bynum. after missing 13 games bynum started strong. the dunk put l.a. up by 17. he finished with 13 points and 12 boards. kobe bryant and company smother the league's leading scorer kevin durant. kobe a huge block. durant just 7 of 24 from the field. in the fourth quarter, kobe from downtown drilled a three in lakers' face. lakers took game one, 81-79. # game two is tomorrow. spurs and mavs. this one, dirk nowitzki. he's mr. everything for the mavs. he had 36 in game one. dirk with the dagger. nearly impossible to stop the seven-footer when he's shooting like that.

mavs won it 100-94. we go to orlando. magic and bobcats. jameer nelson threw it up at the buzzer. nelson led all scores with 32. in the fourth quarter off the miss. howard was there to throw it down. he did have nine blocks. magic took game one by a score of 98-89. the celts will be without kevin garnett for tomorrow's game two against the heat. he's suspended for elbowing richardson on saturday night. they also fined richardson 25 grand for his part in the scuffle. nhl players. flyers and devils needed overtime. three minutes in, daniel carcillo at the right place at the right time. he popped in the biggest goal of his career. flyers lead the series two games to one after a 3-2 win. and finally sharks and avalanche score less after three. san jose's dan boyle tried to bring the puck around the board. the sharks scored the only goal in the game. the sharks scored the only goal in the game. unfortunately it was in their

own net. avalanche lead the series two games to one. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, history and country music and another squeaker at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. bless, we'll take you to a spelling bee that's definitely not for kids. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. not too much to talk about. as we go, the big storm is going to move from the west coast to the east coast. it ee going to take from monday through friday to move across the country. we're nice in the middle of the country. the heavy rain is over with in texas. it will still be kind of cool. florida's got shower activity along with arkansas this morning. a sneak peek at your tuesday shows more of the same, just some showery type weather heading through the northeast, overall the beginning of the week is quiet, the end of the week is stormy in many locations. if you're watching us on whdh tv 7 in boston, have your little one dig, tunnel and build at a kid sized world at construction zone at the boston children's museum. that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> all right, bill. thank you. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at the box office this weekend it was another tight race, but at the academy of country music awards last night in las vegas

there was no doubt about the big winner. carrie underwood made history becoming the first woman ever to win entertainer of the year twice. underwood who won the show's top honor last year beat out taylor swift, kenny chesney, the zac brown band, toby keith, brad paisley, george strait and keith urban for this year's top honors. numbers wise lady antibella was the lead winner including vocal group which snapped a seven-year stranglehold on that award by rascal flats. and to the box office now. most skpefts say "how to train your dragon" eeked out a close victory. available audience had the kick ass coming in second with $250,000 behind. pretty close there. the comedy death funeral came in fourth just behind date night with $17 million. did you see the amas last night? >> i did not, but i'm sick and

tierld of carrie underwood. >> i know. she's a little overdone. >> she's pretty, she's smart, she's gorgeous, she sings well. >> yada, yada, yada, let's bring someone else in. >> this comes to us from kusa 9 news in denver where people were robbed of spelling bee glory in their younger years are getting a chance to make their childhood dreams come true. every two weeks grown ups risk public humiliation in a local bar. of all places. participating a spelling bee for adults. and despite the location, the event brings out top competitors like top professors an english majors. while some play for bragging rights, others admit they covet the giant trophy that they missed out in the third grade. doincht know whether or not the bar situation would be a good thing or a bad thing. >> maybe it will replace karaoke. >> it would be much more entertaining. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> good morning. welcome to a nice quiet start on this monday. it is a little chilly. 37 right now. 43 at the airport. the forecast for today, mostly sunny. we will make it into the low 60's this afternoon. we will complete seven-day forecast coming up. >> 4:57. here is a look ahead to the news today. >> a father is charged in the

beating death of his daughter. i will be live with that story. >> trouble in the skies. flu cancellations across the world. the latest -- flight cancellations but across the world. passengers are stranded. >> so far so good on the area roads.

we [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> good morning. happy monday. i am mindy basara. tony pann will be here to check the forecast. >> happy monday. it is going to be a nice day. it is a little chilly this morning. the temperatures are in the